The Trump administration is ending a Biden-era policy permitting abortions at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals for military veterans and their families.
Key Takeaways:
- After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the Biden administration allowed abortions to be committed at VA hospitals for the first time.
- Biden additionally enacted an executive order (EO) mandating the Department of Defense (DOD) to fund abortion travel for service members.
- Shortly after taking office this year, President Trump rescinded the abortion travel executive order.
- The Trump administration has now also filed to stop abortions from being committed at VA hospitals.
The Details:
This month, the Department of Veterans Affairs filed an official proposal to reverse a Biden administration abortion policy in an attempt to reestablish the same rules that had been in place for decades prior:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to reinstate the full exclusion on abortions and abortion counseling from the medical benefits package, which was removed in 2022. Before that time, this exclusion had been firmly in place since the medical benefits package was first established in 1999.
VA is also proposing to reinstate the exclusions on abortion and abortion counseling for Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) that were removed in 2022. We take this action to ensure that VA provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families.
Pregnant veterans will still be able to receive life-saving medical care in emergency situations, which does not include induced abortion. Women with ectopic pregnancies or in need of miscarriage treatment will likewise continue to be treated.
This rule opens a 30-day public comment period, which will end on September 3.
The Backstory:
In 2022, shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned, the Biden administration issued an interim rule allowing abortions to be committed at VA hospitals, not only on veterans, but their dependents as well. The Biden administration excused this by saying pro-life laws constituted a “medical emergency,” and therefore, abortions should be permitted in cases of rape, incest, or if the health of the mother is in jeopardy.
Dr. Shereef Elnahal, then the VA’s Under Secretary for Health, said this was needed to save women’s lives, though induced abortion — the intentional, targeted killing of a preborn child — is not medically necessary, does not improve maternal mortality or morbidity rates, and is not health care.
That rule was made permanent in 2024, with the abortion travel policy enacted the year prior.
Under that Biden-era travel policy, service members and their dependents had travel expenses to undergo abortions — for any reason, not just so-called medical necessity — covered by the DOD. They also received three weeks of paid leave. That policy was quickly overturned when Trump took office in January of 2025.
The Bottom Line:
A spokesperson for the VA said the Biden-era policy was “politically motivated,” which seems to be true based on the facts; the Biden-era VA estimated that 1,000 abortions would be committed each year under the allowances it put into place in 2022. In actuality, there were fewer than 150, according to the VA filing.
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